Bleep

As sonically unique as Music for Psychedelic Therapy feels in the discography of Jon Hopkins, there is still a kinship to be felt between it and the celebrated producer’s two previous albums, 2013’s Immunity and 2018’s Singularity. Hopkins’ last work turned his increasing interest in pantheistic psychedelic experiences into a fine-tuned musical odyssey, and it’s from here that Music for Psychedelic Therapy provides the masterfully executed next step.

Hopkins creates electronic music much larger than the sum of its parts; chiming bells and breathtaking vistas of synthesised and organic sound swirl and smear into a dense, lush biome of pure feeling, more strongly nodding toward new age healing music than the clubbier environs of yore this time around. Listeners of Hopkins’ earlier material may have drawn comparisons to Daniel Avery, Nils Frahm, and perhaps a little of the ambient side of Aphex Twin, however Music for Psychedelic Therapy sees Hopkins travel more toward the direction of Laraaji and Brian Eno. Certain percussive elements of Hopkins’ past work are stripped away to reveal a work buoyed by an amniotic, endless fluidity, occasionally presented in natural terms. Aspects of the majestic three-part ‘Tayos Caves, Ecuador’ are expertly untouched, allowing water droplets to freely cascade from stalactites, and joining in with synth pad drones only when necessary.

It’s another outstanding release from a master of his craft — and here Hopkins lets the raw material speak for itself.